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What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Or this Japanese proverb: “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” This time of year, many of us try to achieve our New Year’s resolutions, or attempt some new DIY projects, for ourselves or our homes.

But … most of us are not Martha Stewart. And most of us just throw in the towel. But we’re here to let you know, never give up – your failed project just might be salvageable!

This woman’s blog tells the story of a DIY fail that was rescued from the ashes of despair. What seemed like a simple bed restoration project, then turned into a nightmare of painting, sanding, repainting… and wasps. Yes. Wasps.

If you’ve run into a funny DIY fail or have a story of your own, please share it on our Pinterest DIY board, or post it on our Facebook page! If you get it in before Monday, January 21, we’re selecting one winner to receive our customer fave Bamboo towels!

And follow this blog, or our Pinterest DIY board and Facebook for more tips – and we’ll try to keep it simple to ensure fewer fails!

Shopping for your eco-conscious friend or loved one and having trouble coming up with some great gift ideas? Look no further – here at Cuddledown, we offer super comfy products that are also easy on the environment – the perfect gift to soothe body, mind and soul!

For a unique gift, we carry Ramblers Way, the fantastic, superfine wool comfortwear developed by the founders of Tom’s of Maine. From the wool to the final stitching, Ramblers Way apparel is made in the USA, using sustainable farming practices and natural dyes, making it a terrific eco-friendly choice. It was recently included in Treehugger’s Gift Guide (see #12)!

You may know us for our fantastic bedding – but bet you didn’t know Cuddledown is an authorized retailer for UGG® Australia products! In fact, we offer our customers a great selection of apparel, footwear and accessories from brands such as UGG®, Miraclebody®, Calida® and more! We simply love the comfy, practical style of UGG’s footwear and apparel and we offer our customers a great selection of slippers, boots, outerwear, and accessories too!

As those of you who adore the UGG® brand may know, there are many out there who would try to make a quick buck off counterfeiting their products. At Cuddledown, we want our customers to feel confident they’re getting absolute authenticity in every product we offer. So we’re proud to display our official certification as an authorized UGG® retailer!

We hope you’ll enjoy shopping for UGG and our other brands, and feel good knowing that they meet our high quality standards for which our bedding is known!

The leaves are falling and the air is crisp. What better to wear outdoors hiking, or leaf blowing, or simply taking the dog for a walk, than a super soft, superfine, lightweight wool hoodie from Ramblers Way!

Ramblers Way’s owners, Tom and Kate Chappell (former owners of Tom’s of Maine), are committed to keeping their company sustainable and all-natural. In addition, from the US-farm-raised sheep, to the final product made in the USA, Ramblers Way’s clothing is all-American!

Ramblers Way comfortwear is exactly that. When most people think of wool, they think of thick, heavy sweaters that itch.

Kate and Tom Chappell, Ramblers Way

Ramblers Way’s wool comes from their US-bred Rambouillet sheep, known for their superior fleece. This superfine fiber is spun into a very fine yarn which allows for the soft, lightweight knitted wool used in their comfortwear. Their “worsted” yarn construction keeps fibers parallel to avoid the typical wool “itchy” feel. The net result is a fabric that is light, breathes, doesn’t make you itch, and has the insulating and odor absorbing properties unique to wool.

And finally, Ramblers Way comfortwear is perfect for the entire family, including children! Whether wearing it for outdoor activities, or lounging in your home, you’ll love all-natural, all-comfort, all-American Ramblers Way!

Today is Manufacturing Day – honoring all of those companies manufacturing goods in the USA. At Cuddledown, we’re proud to have a crew of skilled employees right here in Maine who make all of our core down and synthetic bedding (pillows, comforters, featherbeds and more)!

Our CEO Chris Bradley has stated that he feels strongly about keeping manufacturing jobs here in Maine, “Like so many other bedding and apparel manufacturers, it’s virtually impossible to avoid using imported fabrics; however, we have managed to keep from transferring our manufacturing operations offshore.” He added, “Cuddledown began in Maine, we have skilled Maine-trained stitchers who know best how to produce Cuddledown products, and having our operations in Maine allows us to scrutinize the materials that go into each pillow, comforter and featherbed.”

If you wish to purchase some of our fine, made in the USA products, and if you happen to live nearby, you can get some of these fantastic products on sale at our Freeport, Maine outlet store this Columbus Day weekend! You can save 20% off our full priced, US-made down products! And of course, as always, you can also save to 75% on selected sleepwear, sheets, apparel and gifts. For more information about the store and directions, view our Freeport store’s web page.

At Cuddledown, all of our pillows, until properly dressed with a pillowcase, are referred to internally as “naked” pillows. With our Fall 2012 catalog featuring said pillows in our Annual Pillow Sale, our creative team came up with this “out of the box” catalog cover!

Whether you find it humorous, or over the top – you have to admit, it’s memorable!

Although we wrote our own copy, we decided it’d be fun to have our customers and fans post their own catalog cover caption on our Facebook page!

You have from now until 8:00 a.m. July 17 to post your caption. The winner with the best caption (to be determined by our panel of experts) will win a pair of Cuddledown’s premium 700 fill power down pillows! So put your best “Mad Men” ad agency creativity to work and have fun!

We encourage the use of humor, but we will reserve the right to edit posts as necessary

Do you keep your bed crisply starched to military specifications, or rumpled, messy and questionably clean? Or somewhere in between? Here at Cuddledown, our talented designer, Chad, created this fun-to-read infographic all about the horrors of unwashed sheets, and the sleep benefits of a fresh, clean bed. If you’re anything like some of us here, you’ll be surprised at some of the statistics!

To celebrate the wonders of clean sheets mentioned in our infographic, we’re holding
a contest on our Facebook page starting now through Tuesday, July 3 at 8:00 a.m!
Simply post your comment about our infographic and you could win one of three great prizes, some fine Cuddledown fabric washing liquid and lavender linen spray, a set of luxurious silk pillowcases, and our grand prize – a $100 gift certificate! Winners will be drawn Tuesday morning, so don’t wait – go comment now!

And in case you were wondering — if you’ve ever seen a weather chart or an exercise diagram, or read USA Today, you’ve seen information graphics or “infographics” – a visual representation of any kind of data or information. They may include charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, maps and lists which can summarize a lot of statistical information. So go check ours out – you may find it very educational!

Since we’re celebrating Flag Day – you may think perhaps there’s something wrong with this picture? However, bet you didn’t know that historians think George Washington may have flown the Union Jack in some initial battles of the revolution! Soon thereafter he realized we needed our own flag, and on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress took a moment from drafting the Articles of Confederation, to pass a resolution that said, “the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white” and that “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

Apparently historians still really aren’t sure who designed our flag in that exact pattern, and to the dismay of schoolkids everywhere (and her relatives), the story of Betsy Ross sewing the first flag in 1776 may, in fact, be only a legend. You can check out the full story at History.com.

US-made Red White and Blue at Cuddledown

Regardless of how it all came to be, we Americans sure love the red, white and blue. And at Cuddledown, we’re no exception – you can even celebrate the day with some red, white and blue items made right here in the USA! Or you can celebrate our predecessors with some fine London bedding, including the decorative pillow depicted above.

Bamboo Towel in "Regatta" blue

To make a fine day even more fun, we’re also celebrating by giving away a bamboo towel (a customer favorite!) in a beautiful shade of blue! Just go to our Facebook page and comment about the flag, the day or even how you’re kicking off summer. Submit your comments by midnight June 14, and we’ll randomly pick a winner Friday, June 15 (super duper extra bonus points to anyone posting a video of them singing the National Anthem or Stars and Stripes Forever!) Good luck!

One of our favorite guest bloggers, Sarah Finnie Robinson from Practically Green is back to share her thoughts about buying organic linens (and apparel)!

5098 Cuddledown Organic Sheets

What’s the big deal about buying organic cotton sheets? Who cares? It might be intuitive to eat vegetables and fruit that haven’t been treated with possibly dangerous chemical fertilizers and preservatives – but bed sheets?

Since Cuddledown has one of the best selections of organic linens we can find, we thought it would be a good idea to explain, right here on The Bedding Snob. Search for “organic” at Cuddledown.com, and as of this writing you’ll find 23 organic products to choose from: shower curtains, sleeping jammies, bedskirts, towels, underwear, and sheets.

Here’s why you might like to shop in the organic section, starting with sheets — switch to organic cotton sheets. If you’re in the market for new sheets, choosing organic cotton ones can drastically reduce the impact of what you buy.

According to the Sustainable Cotton Project, conventional cotton farming uses about 25 percent of the world’s insecticides and more than 10 percent of the pesticides. These chemicals aren’t permitted for use on organic cotton. Beyond sprays, there are other eco-concerns involved with the manufacture of sheets: processing and washing are water-intensive; the chemicals used to bleach and dye cotton can harm our waterways, and some colorants contain heavy metals; formaldehyde is used to create permanent press fabric; packaging and transportation take a toll. Many of these concerns are minimized or avoided with organic cotton sheets.

And if you should wish to purchase bedding or apparel that’s safe, but isn’t purely organic, look for items that are Oeko-Tex®-certified(in case you wondered, Oeko rhymes with “loco”). At Cuddledown, all of the pillows, comforters, featherbeds and more that they make in the beautiful (unless-it’s-completely-fogged-in-and-you-are-on-vacation) state of Maine are Oeko-Tex-certified to be free from harmful chemicals. The same goes for the vast majority of their sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers, as well as sleepwear and apparel items. Oeko-Tex is a world-wide standard developed in 1992 by a group of European textile institutes, for testing and accreditation for the screening of harmful substances in consumer textiles.

The 5th of May this year is not only Cinco de Mayo, but it also celebrates the running of the Kentucky Derby, both of which often feature popular drinks, including Margaritas and Mint Juleps. Plus it’s the weekend prior to Mother’s Day!

Whether a great gift for Mom, or for serving those tasty adult beverages at whatever event you’re celebrating — we’re selling some great new tumblers, made from recycled Cold River Vodka bottles at our Cuddledown outlet store in Freeport, Maine! (PS: we’re holding a Mother’s Day sale at the store through May 13th, with up to 70% off select items!)

For those who are among the uninitiated, the award-winning Cold River Vodka is made by Maine Distilleries, an increasingly well-known company located in Freeport, Maine that also makes Blueberry Vodka and Gin. Their liquor is 100% made in Maine – from the water sourced from the Cold River Aquifer to the potatoes grown at their family-owned Green Thumb Farms in Fryeburg, Maine, to the distillation and bottling plant in Freeport (which btw, you can take tours of!).

And for some creative ideas for vodka (or gin), check out the recipes on the Maine Distilleries website — here’s one that’s perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

We love Lilla P. and Pauline Nakios, the apparel line’s talented creator. We were thrilled to see her featured in the fashion blog “Exposed Zippers.”

Classy yet supremely comfortable, Pauline’s Lilla P. clothing is the best of both worlds! And, we offer it exclusively in our catalog, and also sell it on our website. Come check out some of Pauline’s great new Lilla P. items for spring!

We know Easter isn’t all about the chocolate, but try telling that to a three-year-old! In celebration of the child in us all, as well as International Pillow Fight Day, we’re giving away four fine Cuddledown pillows!

Simply visit our Facebook page and comment on the images we’re posting. Winners will be drawn Tuesday April 10th!

And if you’re worried that the odds aren’t in your favor for winning a free pillow, you can still experience the joy of a brand new pillow! All of our Cuddledown pillows are 25% off through Monday, April 9! Click the link to save!

Have you ever wanted to just grab a pillow and wallop somebody – perhaps your irritating little sister, or co-worker, an annoying celebrity, or even the Easter Bunny who didn’t deliver the chocolate?? Not that we advocate violence, but pillow fights can be fun! Especially with a soft, fluffy pillow from Cuddledown!

This Saturday, April 7, is International Pillow Fight Day! To celebrate, starting today through Monday, April 9, all Cuddledown pillows are 25% off! So purchase a brand new pillow, and free up your old one to use for some proper pillow punishment!

Annoying celebrity being walloped by a pillow!

Also, go check out our Facebook page for the potential to win a Cuddledown pillow simply by commenting on images we’ll be posting today and over the next three days!

As fans of Apartment Therapy – we were thrilled to see Cuddledown featured this past Saturday in their Weekend Shopper’s Guide as one of their top ten favorite bedding stores!

They mentioned the fact that our Cuddledown core bedding is made in the USA and the article featured one of our new, exclusive Spring bedding designs, our Eria Orchid Percale bedding.

Apartment Therapy is a great resource for tips and techniques for the home (not just apartments), from cleaning and renovating, to green living and even luxury designs. Their stated mission is: Helping people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online.

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Primary Down Throw. 30% off + Free Shipping! more...

Our Primary comforter is now also a Throw with the same great value, and made by hand! Our Primary Down Throw is stitched in our Portland, Maine factory, so we guarantee the quality is superior to similar mass produced throws on discount store shelves. We fill soft down proof 100% cotton fabric with our special 600 Fill Power European Duck Down from the cold regions of the French Pyrenees mountains.

About Cuddledown

Cuddledown is based in Yarmouth, Maine and offers a wide selection of down and synthetic down pillows, comforters and featherbeds  all made in the USA. Our down bedding is handcrafted with premium fills and fabrics to ensure that only the finest products are produced for our customers. We also offer a broad assortment of luxurious sheets, blankets, slippers, sleepwear, apparel, towels, and home decor. Our products include many eco-safe and eco-friendly options, exclusive designs and our very own line of sleepwear called Amadora.